Traumafessions :: Reader Volare on the Yip-Yips

I’m a 35 year old father of a ten year old daughter… and I STILL HATE the “Yip-Yips” or aliens from SESAME STREET.

As a kid in the 1970s I’d tear out of the room screaming when they came on, it was that bad. I never understood why they messed with me so badly until a few years ago: Their eyes, almost disembodied unlike just about every other Muppet creation, resemble those of predators as they attack: wide open, large pupils, focused directly on you.

I realized this while looking at a photo of an owl in a magazine and couldn’t figure out why the photo was making me uneasy… I like owls… and then it hit me.

Nowadays they’re a lot less spooky; they sing, hang out with other Muppets, even have a baby alien all their own. But I still find a reason to leave the room…

Sorry to hear about your trauma with these guys, Volare. For me, the Yip-Yips are one of those things that can always bring a smile to my face. In fact, that clip is a go-to for me whenever I need a pick-me-up.

Those Yip-Yips so freaked me out as a child that I could not bear to listen to a phone ringing off the hook for most of my childhood and well into my *snort* adulthood. Even now, a phone that rings itself sick is enough to make me want to jump out of my skin, not because it’s annoying as all hell, but because of those damn Yip-Yips!